Strand of Oaks will embark on an extensive headline tour this fall including newly confirmed shows at Boston’s The Sinclair, Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg, Denver’s Bluebird Theater, Seattle’s The Showbox, Los Angeles’ Lodge Room, Dallas’ Club Dada, Austin’s Mohawk, Atlanta’s Terminal West and Nashville’s Mercy Lounge among several others. See below for complete itinerary. Tickets for the tour go on-sale this Friday, July 23 at 10:00am local time, full details can be found at www.strandofoaks.net/shows.
The fall dates celebrate Strand of Oaks’ anticipated new album, In Heaven, which will be released October 1 and is now available for pre-order. Recorded in October 2020 with Kevin Ratterman at Invisible Creature in Los Angeles, In Heaven is a hopeful reflection on love, loss, and enlightenment. In his eighth studio album as Strand of Oaks and first since moving to Austin, TX, Tim Showalter takes his own grief and newly found sobriety and manifests songs that achieve a universality rooted not only in loss, but also joy, celebration, and newfound strength.
Ahead of the release, lead single, “Galacticana,” debuted earlier this month to widespread acclaim. Of the track, NPR Music praises, “The message at the core of ‘Galacticana’ is universal, not only as a remembrance of all that was lost during the pandemic, but as a reflection of the joy and newfound strength we’re feeling right now,” while Stereogum declares, “‘Galacticana’ boasts a new kind of focus. There are little touches throughout that are just perfect: the way the ‘Laughing as a self-defense’ line hits opening the second verse now that the drums are in full swing, the way he wraps his voice around that leather line and the later one about solar winds pushing him further from his mother, the sigh of the chorus, the piano punctuations at the song’s finale. There’s sharp, hook-driven songwriting acumen at play here, which becomes something magical when combined with a mellower Strand Of Oaks.”
Reflecting on the album, Showalter shares, “In Heaven was created with so much love and my greatest hope is that it connects with people and provides a momentary space for reflection, joy, catharsis and whatever else someone might be looking for in their life. Music is magic and I feel like the luckiest person in the world that I’m allowed to share it.”
In addition to Showalter on guitars and vocals and Ratterman on drums, the album features Carl Broemel (My Morning Jacket) on guitars, Bo Koster (My Morning Jacket, Roger Waters) on keyboards, Cedric LeMoyne (Alanis Morrissette, Remy Zero) on bass and Scott Moore on violin with special guest James Iha (The Smashing Pumpkins) on vocals and guitar on “Easter.
In Heaven is the follow up to 2019’s Eraserland, which was named one of the top albums of the year by NPR Music, who proclaimed, “brims with moments that will stop you in your tracks…The result is a cosmic tour-de-force,” while Pitchfork declared, “soars in both its booming and hushed moments, a testament to the skills of this lockstep outfit. These seasoned players navigate Showalter’s emotional cosmos with equal parts professionalism and empathy.” Since his debut in 2009, Showalter—performing as Strand of Oaks—has toured relentlessly with sold-out shows across the country including concerts with Jason Isbell and Iron and Wine and appearances on “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” NPR Music’s “Tiny Desk Concert” and many more.
IN HEAVEN TRACKLIST
1. Galacticana
2. Easter
3. Hurry
4. Horses At Night
5. Somewhere in Chicago
6. Jimi & Stan
7. Sunbathers
8. Carbon
9. Sister Saturn
10. Slipstream
11. Under Heaven
STRAND OF OAKS FALL TOUR
October 11—Boston, MA—The Sinclair*
October 12—Washington, DC—Miracle Theater*
October 15—Holyoke, MA—Gateway City Arts*
October 16—Hamden, CT—Space Ballroom*
October 18—Brooklyn, NY—Music Hall of Williamsburg*
October 19—Buffalo, NY—Mohawk Place*
October 20—Detroit, MI—Loving Touch*
October 22—Cleveland, OH—Grog Shop*
October 23—Columbus, OH—Ace of Cups*
October 24—Indianapolis, IN—HiFi*
October 26—Kansas City, MO—Record Bar*
October 27—Denver, CO—Bluebird Theater*
October 29—Boise, ID—The Olympic*
October 31—Seattle, WA—The Showbox*
November 1—Portland, OR—Mississippi Studios*
November 3—Oakland, CA—Starline Social Club*
November 4—Los Angeles, CA—Lodge Room*
November 5—Palm Springs, CA—Alibi
November 6—San Diego, CA—Soda Bar*
November 8—Phoenix, AZ—Rebel Lounge*
November 10—Dallas, TX—Club Dada*
November 11—Houston, TX—White Oak Upstairs*
November 12—Austin, TX—Mohawk*
November 15—Tampa, FL—Crowbar*
November 16—Atlanta, GA—Terminal West*
November 17—Nashville, TN—Mercy Lounge*
November 19—Carrboro, NC—Cat’s Cradle Back Room*
November 20—Charlottesville, PA—The Southern*
November 21—Wilkes-Barre, PA—Chandelier Lobby*
*with special guest The Still Tide
